In a Perfect Box
by goodbye wonderland
Summary: Abby was sure of a couple of things at the moment. One; Wally was a complete idiot. Two; Kuki was absolutely heartbroken. Three; Hoagie knew something and Ace was a bastard. Fixing this was going to be an issue. — ஐ Of A Sweeter Kind rewrite ஐ — 3/4. 2/5


**o0.**  
. sign your name .

_[– did you ever get the feeling that you were born to lose?_]

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Hoagie fell onto his back, letting the blades of nearby grass tickle at this bare arms. A bird chirped as it swept overhead, obscuring the late spring sunshine for moment, dragging a bored sigh from the lips of the pilot. He would much rather be above the ground, soaring into clouds with only the hum of the engine and booster to greet him.

Instead of. . . _this._

Somewhere down the grassy field, his best friend let out a string of curses.

Hoagie sighed again, exasperatedly.

Pushing himself up with his palms flat, the boy snapped his goggles to the top of his mop of mousey hair before letting his eyes catch the shape of a figure in orange.

Numbuh Four.

He had a large fist curled into the fabric of a designer shirt being worn by Austin "Ace" Sanchez, pulling the Hispanic boy into him. "So what if I tripped you?" Hoagie heard Ace drawl, his voice steady as he stared back into Wally's anger twisted face.

"That's a penalty, yew asshole!"

"I don't see a referee, do you?"

It had never occurred to Numbuh Two that maintaining a friendship with the both of them would be so utterly. . . _difficult._ Just running into each other in school erupted into some sort of competition. On the street, it was the same, just appearing near the other becoming an altered sporting event.

The rapid thuds of their running feet started again as Hoagie watched them speed down the field, the ball barely visible, nothing but a spiral of black-and-white, as it rolled over the ground. The more collected one of the rivals kicked it neatly into the goal. Wally stumbled, pulling at his hair for a second with a shriek of rage before whirling on his feet to face Numbuh Two's fellow pilot.

"Yeah, well, its not like ah have ta take this seriously anyhow!" the blondie exclaimed, jabbing a finger into his opponent's face.

Hoagie rolled his eyes, flopping back into the warm grass.

Ace smiled.

Wally kinda wished it would brake his face.

"You know," the pilot began, his voice dripping with a sort of honey. "I think I have a way we can make this interesting."

Wally struggled to pluck the soccer ball from the net. He swore loudly when it grew tangled underneath his impatient fingers. "And how is that?" the australian snarled as he finally freed the ball and tossed it to his opponent.

Ace caught it gracefully.

"We'll play three rounds, and whoever possesses the most points at the end will be the winner."

The Beetles teen opened his mouth to complain, but Ace cut him off, "And the winner of the match will get bit of a prize-"

"-That would _be_?"

The two boys glared at each other before Ace snorted, rolling his eyes dismissively. "I was getting to that, neanderthal," he huffed, rolling the ball underneath his foot from heel to toe and back again. He eyed the seething boy with a cluck of tongue before grinning and continuing. "The prize will be full flirtation rights with Kuki for a weeks time."

Wally blinked, and Hoagie shot up again from his grassy perch nearby. Numbuh Three wasn't exactly the most easily offended person. She was a sweetheart; soft, friendly, and keen with shrugging off everything with a pearly smile.

But some things -like _very_ in-love, moronic australians- brought out the she-devil hidden with a halo and fluffy wings.

'_Dude_.'

The aforementioned Numbuh Four swallowed thickly, tucking his hands into the pockets of his holey jeans. "Wot does teh loser get?" he grunted while Hoagie hoped Kuki would be in a pleasant mood when they returned to the Teens Next Door base.

A half smile curled itself onto Ace's lips, crinkling his eyes behind his dark shades. "Nothing, really," he explained, gesturing with a hand, "expect that they must pretend that Kuki does not exist for the entirety of the week."

Pinching the bridge of nose between his thumb and pointer, the onlooker sighed. He didn't even need to listen in to know what the response would be from his blonde friend.

A challenge was a challenge.

And Wally never said no to one.

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**A/N:**

I was going to combine chapters one and two into one piece, but I realized that this provided a cliffhanger of sorts so eh. Anyway, _I _think its a bit better than its predecessor. And holy shit! I actually know what I'm going to do with it this time around!

- Stoplight.

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KND © Mr. Warburton.


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